


This time, this place

by Lyricanna



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: M/M, Minor Angst, Niles being Niles, different timelines converge, don't want to clog up other tags, fluff if you squint, leonilesexchange, other characters mentioned but not really featured, referenced Leo/Nyx, refernced Niles/Tsubaki, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-19 23:49:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11324265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyricanna/pseuds/Lyricanna
Summary: Prompt: Leo and Niles from two different timelines meet up in Askr for a second chance.





	This time, this place

Niles lingered in the doorway of the largest library he had ever been in. That included the library in Castle Krakenburg, where he had spent countless hours with Leo, just in case. He was always with Leo, just in case he needed books carried or food fetched or an assassin slipped by. Odd to have been separated by the bizarre circumstances that brought him to this world, odder still to know that Leo was here now. He had asked after every summoning ritual, after every fight, every contract – _who are we kidding, compulsion_ – was broken. Yet somehow his young lord had slipped by, had been here a week already and he hadn't known. A minor irritant that – it had always been his job to know things. To ferret out secrets, plots. And here Leo sat, nose in a book, stacks of more books to his right and left and Niles had only learned of it half an hour ago, after he had scared it out of Alfonse.

 _That had been fun though_ , Niles thought idly. He enjoyed making the pouty, pretty prince jump. _It was too easy to do though. Required no subtlety, no finesse. Tsubaki had required subtlety. And Leo? He had required... what?_ Niles shoved that thought away. _I really am terrible._ He shook his head and watched as Leo flipped a page and moved a strand of hair out of his face with a delicate hand. He had always found his lord pretty, with a round, elegant face. Underneath the armour he wore, he was leanly muscled, something that had always surprised Niles. Leo was so booky; no one really could reconcile the scholar with the dark mage that wielded magic and sword with equal ease. Which was all a part of the appealing contradiction that was Leo.

He had never been afraid to approach his lord, not really, yet he lingered, unsure of his next step. Things didn't entirely make sense here. He had already watched a few confusing reunions of other heroes from other worlds. A petite green haired mage had cried for half an hour, holding onto a blonde man that she called brother, saying that she remembered seeing him die. Another mage, blue haired this time, had approached a man that couldn't have been older than her, claiming he would be her father one day. Needless to say, it made him apprehensive. He didn't remember dying – or Leo dying for that matter – but who knew what Leo would remember.

_Only one way to find out._

Niles sauntered over to his lord, his gait casual from a lifetime of acting more confident than he was. He stopped behind Leo's chair and leaned close to his ear.

“Is there anything that you require, my lord?” he purred. He was rewarded by Leo jumping and slamming the book shut.

“Niles?” Leo asked as his retainer walked to the other side of the table and took a seat. Not at all proper protocol but Leo was always indulgent when they were alone. And aside from the snarky black haired mage who had moved into another of the libraries vaults, they were alone. “They said you were here but I hadn't been able to find you...” Leo's voice trailed off.

“Big castle,” Niles said dismissively. “Been lost more than once myself. And I think the royalty here has agreed amongst themselves to spare anyone I ask after by not telling me where they are.”

“So you've already made an impression then,” Leo said with a sigh.

“Thought they might send me back if I was too unbearable. I guess my use outweighs my charming demeanour.” Leo snorted at that and Niles couldn't help but smile. He always ended up grinning whenever Leo made indelicate sounds.

“Is anyone else here?”

“Xander's been spotted with the enemy; by choice allegedly. Better than dead, I suppose. But I haven't seen anyone else. Well a few Hoshidans, but they hardly matter. Haven't seen your sisters or your other brother.” Leo looked at him quizzically for a long moment.

“I don't have another brother.”

“I thought you had un-disowned him,” Niles said uneasily.

“Who?”

“Corrin,” Niles replied as he leaned back in his chair. Of course the conversation had to get weird.

“Niles, Corrin is my sister, you know that,” Leo said exasperatedly. “And you owe her an apology for that when you see her next.”

Niles let the silence hand before asking, “have you spoken to many of the others here? The ones from different worlds, times, whatever it is?”

“Not too much, why?”

“I've witnessed a few exchanges -”

“You were spying,” Leo interrupted primly.

“And it seems that the summoning spell can be inconsistent. People from the same place can be taken from different times; sometimes days or weeks apart, others decades and still others centuries.” He watched Leo from across the table, uneasily awaiting a response.

“Which shouldn't be possible,” Leo said at last. “Magic doesn't work that way. Weapons may be imbued with strange powers from gods, dragons or spirits, but the flow of time and the interweaving of realities like this shouldn't be possible.”

“And yet here we are.”

“The how of which is what I'm trying to figure out. There was a book, although only passages of it remain in other books, called Mirrors of the Wheel, which detailed parallel realities where all choices that could be made exist infinitely, across as many reflection worlds as there are choices. The mirror worlds also reflect other base worlds which might explain some of this...”

“All of which, I'm sure, makes sense to you,” Niles replied.

“Sorry. I just need to know how this happened. And if all choices exist in infinite variation across infinite worlds...” Leo paused for a moment. “Who did Corrin side with?”

“The Hoshidans,” Niles replied. “He sided with his birth family.”

“Except that _she_ didn't. She sided with us,” Leo said excitedly. Just as quickly as his face lit up his expression fell. “Which means you aren't my Niles.”

“Pardon?”

“You're Niles but you come from a mirror world of the one I do. One where Corrin is male and sides with the Hoshidans instead of being female and maintaining her loyalty to us. So you are well, you, but you aren't the you that I know. If that makes sense.”

“So they could, potentially, summon another me?”

“In theory yes, in reality I hope not. One of you is about all I can take at a time!”

“But you've never tried taking more.”

Leo gave him a flat stare. “Niles, don't be crass.”

“So your version of me is probably missing you right now.”

“And you?”

“While I miss my king, I am glad to see you without so many burdens on your shoulders. And even if you aren't my Leo you are still my lord and that is enough for me.”

Leo smiled and shook his head. “At least it's simple for you.”

“Not really. I just accept the situation as it is; strange but not something I can do anything about. So I may as well enjoy it.”

“You haven't gotten into any trouble, have you?” Leo asked slowly, biting his lip as he finished.

“Not enough for them to send me away,” Niles said with a grin. Leo sighed and returned to his book. He flipped through a few pages, trying to find his spot. After a few minutes of looking, he closed the book again and rearranged the pile of texts. A stalling gesture.

“Was I... was I a good king at least?” he asked casually.

“You did what you could. Your reign had only been a few years long when I was summoned here, so it's hard to say how it'll pan out in the long run. You set about re-writing Nohrian law which caused some nobles to get antsy, but you managed to keep them in line. You let me hunt down the slave traders and put a few of them out of business. You kept relations with Hoshido cordial although it hurt to do so.”

“Who killed Xander?”

“I only know this second hand – the three of us weren't there, we were discovering the truth about your father – but it sounds like Corrin did. After he accidentally killed Elise.”

Leo sat up straighter and opened his mouth as if to protest. Just as quickly, his shoulders slumped and he shook his head. “No, even you wouldn't joke about that.”

“At least everyone's alive here? Or can be brought here alive?” Niles shrugged. Comfort still wasn't his strong point but Leo needed something right then.

“I... yes. And you and I were still close?” Another question asked too casually.

It was Niles' turn to hesitate. “We had been but there were certain occurrences that meant I needed to be set aside.”

“Set aside? You remained in my employ by the sounds of it and yet...”

“Well you were king,” Niles said as casually as he could manage. “You needed an heir. You had one by the way.”

“Pardon?”

“A son.”

“So I did what? Adopted? Followed after my father and took on a courtesan?” he demanded with a shudder.

“Not so bad as all that. You got married.”

“Me? Married? To a woman?” he asked flatly.

“Well yes. You've always been dutiful. You didn't shy away from what was required of you. A pretty little sorceress with a curse on her came to the castle and petitioned for use of the library. You two became close and you wanted your heir to have strong magic, so you wed and I think you can figure out the details from there.” Normally, this was the sort of humiliation Niles enjoyed dealing out. But this was Leo and it was upsetting to him. Anything that upset or hurt Leo had always caused Niles' gut to twist, as if he'd been stabbed. He tried to ignore the feeling and think of anything at all to say that could make it better. There really wasn't anything.

“And you?”

“While I think I would have made a lovely concubine, your lady wife would not have approved.”

“That is not what I meant.”

“I know,” Niles grinned. “I didn't see the need to burden anyone with myself for eternity,” he continued with a dismissive wave of his hand. The fact that he had had an arrangement with a certain Hoshidan envoy wasn't something to burden Leo with. Especially since neither him nor said envoy remembered the fact.

“Being around you isn't a burden when you decide to show your true self,” Leo said pointedly. “You're capable of caring.”

“Ah, but my little black heart has limited capacity. It would be awfully unfair to offer so little in return to someone else.”

“So my... wife isn't here,” Leo mused, ignoring Niles' teasing. “And even should she show up she may have no memory of the fact, since she could be from my time where I was not married, instead of yours where I was. And having seen the list of heroes that the Summoner can reach, there is approximately a one in eight hundred chance of bringing her here and the chance that she remembers things as you do is lower still. So however... interesting that might be to know, it's hardly relevant to our current situation.” And just like that, Leo had dismissed the issue entirely.

“Which sounds like you've decided something.”

“Perhaps,” Leo said with a small smile. “Would you accompany me to my quarters?” Niles opened his mouth to make a snide remark but Leo cut him off quickly. “To help with all of these books?”

“Pleasure to serve, my lord,” Niles replied with a wicked grin. A faint blush from Leo confirmed exactly how close his lord remembered them being, which made his grin wider. He helped gather the books. It suited him just fine to be properly alone with his lord. If he played his cards right, they would soon be having a proper reunion. His heart beat a little faster in anticipation as he followed Leo out of the library.

 

**Author's Note:**

> My part of the LeoNiles exchange on twitter for TransNiles https://twitter.com/transniles Got a bit caught up in the world building/mechanics and the first reunion ^^; Marking this complete for now but I might write a second chapter from Leo's point of view. 
> 
> Points to anyone who gets the reference.


End file.
